Nightmare in the world
by detrametal
Summary: The world lies in shambles when the King of Gotham is slain and a pretender takes his throne, Prince Richard, Sir Victor, Princess Kori of another kingdom and the half demon spawn of Trigon are hell bent on returning the throne to it's rightful ruler. But their only hope lies in the Man who's endless sleep fathered Death, the man who controls the woods that even gods fear to tread


The fog surrounded them as they huddled in terror. Howls of creatures from the deep echoed over them. But it wasn't the creatures they needed to fear. A thin branch wrapped around ones neck before jerking him up so quickly the bones snapped. As the hunters turned thin roots shot forward-impaling one before roots grabbed the last one and dragged him down between the roots of a large tree that settled itself. In the dark he could neither scream, nor move. Only wait for death.

* * *

Raven Roth, the most power sorceress in the world sat in her small shop readying her potions. Her life on the streets taught her well about what people needed and what they felt they needed. She gave her smile- a smirk to anyone else, she remembered fondly those days where she and Richard survived by their wits in the castle town of the Kingdom of Gotham. Then came the changing times, he was picked up by the king to be his heir and she had been taken back to her father.

While Richard learned the manners of Court she had found her parentage. Her mother had been human-a sacrifice to a demon, but he took her alive and she found him more than hospitable. Raven herself was just older than a babe when her mother took her to Earth to learn of the land, but even above Hell there is evil. Her mother was slain and the little girl ran into the forests before coming to the stone town. Thinking her time before only a dream she lived with her bond brother for five years, then he had been taken.

In a glorious display of understanding she let him go without fuss, she entered an alley when the four eyed red man appeared to her. Trigon, her father, taught her much before she returned to Earth to seek her fortune among those more of her kind.

He taught her much but his most dire warning was thus "There is one place where every living thing save the trees fear- The Forest of Fog. Even my king goes to pay his tributes to that haunted place."

* * *

Slowly the sorceress packed her bag, a dream warned her of a great journey…as if being dragged to Hell wasn't a big enough adventure for a lifetime. Just as she finished packing the back door was flung open and slammed shut, before she could even make a move a knock came from the front. A guard, his sword was drawn and the purple glow in his hand marked him as a mage, the symbol on his armor marked him as a King's guard…or rather the usurper's guard. The daft bastard had killed the King and declared himself the new monarch, he maintained control by offering most of the knights more money and other things, some of which should never be given, but he now had control over most of the kingdom. He glared at her "Have you seen the false Prince?" so that's what they were calling Richard now, huh? She shook her head and he growled and she slammed the door in his face.

Raven gathered her power in her hands, a deep darkness wrapped around them as her eyes shone with a brilliant light and she stepped to the intruders "You, hiding behind the counter. If you don't get out right now I _WILL_ roast you now and ask questions later"

A familiar head of short pointy hair poked up "Gods Rae, you've gotten a lot more aggressive than last time we met"

With a sigh the tension fled out of her body "What the hell are you doing here?" he stood up and she studied him, he was still short but now it was more along the line of the young man he was supposed to be, and the light red jerkin he wore with a forest green shirt underneath paired well with the gray pants and boots he wore, across his back was a staff and a brown leather belt sat around his waist and his mask sat across his eyes.

Just as she studied him he looked at her changes- she had filled out from that starved girl he knew those years ago, he could understand why she had so many suitors…that she turned down, not to mention the dark leotard she wore with a low slung skirt that reached the floor that showed off a portion of her upper legs, her cloak gave her a mysterious feel but the tall pointed hat she wore and the dark red gem were proof enough she was at least an archsorceress.

He stood and gave her a hug that she returned "Vic, come on out with the princess" two more people stood, the first she recognized as Sir Victor Stone of Silverhall, a giant of a man, his dark skin standing out against the spotless armor of his home, the crest of his family, a mountainous cliff overlooking the sea shone brightly on his large kite shield and on the chest of his plate mail, across his waist was a knights' sword and his knife, a pack sat on his back with a crossbow and his usual weapon- a giant claymore, his friendly smile was subdued by the direness of the situation.

The next she recognized, or rather she remembered the symbol standing out so proudly on her necklace. The second princess of Tameran. The foreigner stood almost as tall as the knight and with a short purple skirt and shirt with bracers that featured the same symbol in the gem before being set in steel-a matching set with the necklace.

Raven didn't even bother to get introductions, she merely waved the group over to her table before casting a quick silencing spell and staring at Richard "I know you have a plan to fix this, you always do" he nodded "but I have to ask-why are you here?"

The prince sighed "I thought it'd be obvious" he sighed as he rubbed his forehead "Raven, I need you to help me get the throne back" she spewed her tea across the table, Richard barely managed to dodge as he continued "I need to find some way to legitimize me getting the throne back, and there are only two ways. One of which is to get the other three of the other five kingdoms to declare me as the rightful ruler"

After a fist to her sternum Raven coughed "And the other?"

The prince shook his head "Impossible. A fool's errand." she waited that crucial moment more, he sighed "The other…get the Spirit of the Forest to claim me as the heir"

For once Raven was speechless. The impossibility of the task was enough to almost force her to bow out. She couldn't leave Richard. He was her brother "Damn it" she hissed with enough venom to have the others shoot back. With a glare she pinned Rich "I will do this only because you're my brother and I'll be well rewarded for this, understand." it wasn't a question. He nodded and her pack appeared in her hand along with her staff and with a snap of her fingers the shop shrunk around them before they phased through the walls and the black orb floated into the back. Raven closed the clasp on her cloak and they were away-much to the companions' displeasure.

* * *

As they passed the sleepy guard moment before the portcullis closed for the night Richard took a gasp of clean air as he dropped his disguise of filthy rags "Remind me why we had to do that again?"

Raven was immune to his glare "Because if they had a mage guarding that gate any illusion would be destroyed and you'd be dead"

He growled deep in his throat "But why didn't any of you have to hide?"

She countered quickly "I am not bound to any royalty and am the most powerful sorceress in the country, they really couldn't stop me even if they cared to, Starfire's country is stronger than ours by many times and she has been granted diplomatic immunity by the new king, he's not stupid enough to wage a war with a potential ally when he needs to consolidate his power…as for Sir Victor, he's one of the few 'treaty knights' those who are not in the direct service of the king but as a token of alliance from another kingdom, but the question must be asked…which one?"

The smiling giant felt pleased that some one could recognize that he wasn't born in the country "I'm bound to the Queen's service, she tried to get you to become the head of the mages' school at one point"

Though Raven's face didn't change she was relieved "If it's Queen Jennifer then we have nothing to worry about."

By this point in the conversation the sun was starting to set and they had traveled a few miles from the gated city, at the sight of a ring of wooden posts they quickly rushed over and put down their packs. As Vic started the fire and Raven prepared the food Richard quickly checked his equipment before asking the question that had plagued him for the past few minutes "What are those sticks?"

Vic opened his mouth for a second before shrugging "Don't really know, as far as I've been told they're something like a protective ward"

Richard, once again, in old habits looked to Raven, but unlike old times two more sets of eyes followed her. She sighed before sitting down "Are you familiar with the legend of the Forest of Fog?"

They all shook their heads but the cheery princess added on "I have not heard of this legend but I have been told it is a place not to be"

The sorceress nodded "I've met demons, angels and everything between, and each of them is scared of that forests, anyways long story short before death existed there was a man who was…well, the closest word in modern translation is 'man of the forest'-more like a ranger, apparently he got everything from the forest, and as I said he existed before death, so when his time came there was nowhere for his soul to go, normally this would mean wandering the earth for all of eternity but as he was the first, Gaia took his soul into her embrace. He became an extension of her- her fatal left hand for those who displease her. But that's not the end, oh no, the story continues saying that where his body fell Death was born, and it built a temple to it's father. Death lives in that forest and anything going in that has not passed surpassed their bodies soon will.

The end though is what we're most interested in-the last words of the tale are a warning 'For those foolish enough to tempt the trees the Father of Death will come to claim their souls'-rough translation of course, it's impossible to date the legend but the earliest it could be is nearly eighteen centuries ago, now about that time the Empire of Golth, known now as Gotham, came under the rule of the first conqueror in history, we only know him as 'The Crowned' at least that's how all the books refer to him as, and our first written history is recorded. His first chronicles are recorded from when he was just a warlord in the east, his tribe was under attack from a much larger one. He did what he believed to be the only thing he could do. He went in the forest and begged for the Spirit of the Ranger who lived there to help him. He says that it bristled with weapons and at it's command the trees uprooted themselves and became the soldiers of it's Goddess, no matter how much damage they took they didn't stop until the Ranger commanded them to be planted again. He went on to say that he was given a totem, a flat piece of wood with runes on it and the command to go out and build an empire- one which would never fall as long as every three miles a circle of totems was placed. Thus the sticks"

The others looked around the fifty foot circle before settling in for the night, the moon now crested the mountains to the east, yet sleep seemed far away and Victor asked "What happened to the empire?"

Raven placed her hat beside her and her staff across her lap "It collapsed, legends, once again, say that he conquered the entire continent, and covered in the posts, ones that magically kept wild beasts at bay. At some point the additional dictate occurred that any parties within the circles not fight, but that's not really important-what is though is that the king opened a temple for Gaia. Now the king died and his son kept the traditions strong, but the grandson didn't. ninety years had passed and the grandson didn't believe in the Ranger, so he ordered the posts to be uprooted, they are exactly thirteen feet tall and thirteen per circle, at two inches across and half an inch thick they would provide a lot of wood. Soon after that war erupted and the grandson was slain by an axe to the base of the spine. The empire was split evenly to the five attacking generals but none wanted the forest so it became it's own separate country. But only two of them kept the tradition of the road totems-old Golth and Tameran, about a thousand years ago Tameran stopped followed directly by a bloody coup that entirely flipped the royalty"

Victor sighed "That's quite the story…"

Richard nodded before looking to the moon "We better get some sleep if we want to be moving by any decent hour"

Kori nodded "I wish unto you a night of nothing but goodness"

Raven set her long staff beside her and lowered her hat until it could block out the dying light of the embers.

* * *

"Two weeks. Two weeks since we left the city and still we can't get anywhere worth going!" growled the angry prince.

Victor shrugged "Not our fault the king knew what he was doing and ordered closed borders"

Kori nodded "It seems he may be more intelligent then we thought…but something seems wrong with friend Raven…" and her concerned gaze traveled to the mage.

Raven was nervous-that Richard could tell in a heartbeat, her hands wrung the black wood of her staff before she swept her surroundings again with both her eyes and magic. Victor's tense face was in agreement "I'd be too if I could feel half of what she's probably feeling…we're close to the Forest…"

As the moon was rising and they found themselves in another ring of wards their gazes drifted the two hundred feet to the first of the trees that marked the boundary to the malicious realm. For a moment Richard's thoughts drifted to entering but were quickly dashed. Raven's thoughts were much different.

Something inside was calling her. It was a seductive voice, she knew she had heard it but then it was only half as compelling, a dream through a filter. Suddenly the calm song stopped and switched to a rushed tone, asking-no, begging her to come. Her senses heightened to the utmost at the change.

But the hour and their long journey wore on her and quietly her eyes slid shut as she joined the others in slumber.

* * *

Many hours later when the dreams were at their most plentiful it happened. The Voice cried out and Raven leapt to alertness, figures carrying torches surrounded their camp in a semicircle, only a few hundred feet away, her powers roused the others and they took off in the one direction the attackers were not.

As they ran the were trapped, on either side were sheer rock walls thousands of feet high, with all her power Raven wouldn't have been able to lift the others to the top quickly enough to evade their pursuers-so deeper they ran.

It wasn't until the Voice murmured that she slowed and they gradually came to a stop, huffing and panting from exertion. It was only then that they realized they had entered the one place where they never wished to be.

Victor pulled out his hatchet, the sorceress growled "What are you doing?!"

He calmly explained as if she was sun-touched "We need light to see, I was going to cut a few limbs to make torches."

She pulled her staff across her chest and the dark gem encased in the black wood started to glow as the Voice rumbled like thunder at the mortal "Victor, if you touch a tree I will stop you"

Richard quickly grabbed the knights hand as he watched the princess try to calm the other girl, her trembling visible even from where he stood.

A slight movement caught their eyes and suddenly a little girl, no more than six, fell out of the leafy bush, her clothes were dusty though not ill made and her blond hair shone brilliantly with her azure eyes "H-hello" she whispered.

Raven pressed her magic against the girl, she was nothing more than she appeared "Hello little one…what's your name?" she asked as she took the girls hand and helped her stand.

"Sophie, Master asked that I take you to him…" she dug a toe into the soil and looked at the ground, Raven looked to Richard who nodded before Victor and Kori just shrugged

Richard looked at the quiet girl, his mask unreadable "Lead on Sophie"

They were shocked when instead of entering more deeply into the forest they skirted the edges before running into a small fire with three more people, a twin brother to the little girl and what they assumed to be her parents, she took her father's hair and left behind his drab gray eyes while she didn't take the dark hair of her mother, she walked to her father before hugging him and whispering again "I brought them, daddy! Now we can take them to see the Spirit!"

He smiled before gathering her up in his arms "You did good my little flower, but he wants us to show them some things before we get there" she nodded and went to hug her mother who had a small smile at her daughter's antics. The father stood up "Hello, my name Lars, this is my wife, Elizabeth, and my son, Ryan. You've met my daughter." he looked at the thick canopy that blocked out all the light "and we better get moving if we're to see the first thing he wants you to see"

They followed him blindly, they had no other option.

* * *

They almost felt betrayed as the family led them to a camp of their hunters. But the family stopped at a bush that hid them from sight. The hunting dogs pressed themselves into the dirt as far as they could while the hunters hacked away at a fallen tree and set fire to the branches. They grumbled and growled to themselves, not one knowing the darkness that was now eclipsing them.

Black apparitions danced in the fire light, flitting from shadow to shadow, one stopped and reached out to grasp the shadow of the hunter, it's claws around his neck as he laughed. The ghostly one jerked it's hand back sharply and the man fell over as blood rushed out of his slit throat. Two were impaled from needle roots before being jerked back into the darkness where the master of the roots lay embedded. The last two felt the ground shift below them as red flowers bloomed, the petals shaped like a spider, thin and pointed as they uncurled and released a purple gas that instantly clenched muscles that never had before. Their blood never made it into their hearts, nor air into their lungs and soon they too fell dead and the dogs rushed deeper into the forest as the Master called. All this in the blink of an eye.

The outcasts pulled away to stare at the impassive family, Elizabeth met their gaze and answered "They invaded here and killed a tree. They tried to force their way into the heart of the world" at the pointed gaze she continued "Lars, myself and a few others live here because we were taken in by the forest. We were left here as babes by those who would not be called parents. Left to die the forest took us in. We know the ways that the forest allows and keep that trust, in turn we never go without. Even if we were to ever get lost the spirits that inhabit this place would lead us home. But come, there are still many things yet to show you"

They silently nodded, wondering what they had gotten themselves into.

* * *

They continued deeper into the forest with the family until they reached a dead plains, the trees were transformed into gray spikes that jutted up against the sky like an accusing finger to God. Lars whistled loudly, the sound seeming to reverberate on the dry desolate ground and the impenetrable mist that cloaked the area. Victor asked "What are you doing?"

The father's eyes scanned the fog "Calling a spirit guide…looks like we may wait awhile" and he sat down and welcomed his daughter into his lap "This is the frozen forest, those like us live on the edges, this place belongs to the dead yet, further on is the place where nightmares live. Only the dead and those from beyond can safely navigate."

They waited in silence for nearly an hour before Kori spoke "Friend Lars…you called this the Forest of Frozen…yet I see no cold…why is that?"

Elizabeth answered for her sleeping husband, who was leaning against the same tree as the princess, albeit on the other side "Many years ago a great ice storm came through, these trees were at the edge of the forest at the time, they were frozen and it was many years before they could be thawed out, they died in the ice but something happened to change what they were on the inside, the trees turned gray and became hard, more akin to stone than other trees"

The mother fell silent and just as before time started to pass. But only moments later a giggle was heard in the fog and Lars awoke and scratched the back of his head "C'mon, our guide's here" another giggle alit the air "Hello Tina!"

What appeared before them was an outline of a little girl in a dress that waved to them before skipping out, Lars and Elizabeth smiled as their son and daughter chased after the specter. Richard, Kori, Victor and Raven were much more apprehensive.

* * *

The walk was…enlightening, the ground was littered with the bones of those who tried to steal the secrets of the forest, the gray fog was so deep that within moments they would have been utterly lost if it were not for their companions forms and the laughter of the children who led them through.

They had not been expecting the sanctum of the Spirit. The deep veil of the canopy was unpierced by the light and their eyes adjusted to the even darker forest. There were impossible creatures living there, sharks of jade scales swam serenely across the air while dragons nested on the ground and yet other more strange and terrifying creatures only hid in the shadows. The family seemed at ease while the outsiders felt only panic. This was the most lethal place they had ever been. Each of these creatures was capable of destroying nations.

They continued on with a retinue of shadows keeping pace. But as they entered the clearing at the heart of the great forest the creatures bowed their heads while those newcomers lifted their eyes in awe.

A tower of metal and glass had one stood strong, but now it's broken form was transformed into a temple, the tower was embedded into the tree that ruled the forest-larger than any thing any of them had seen it towered high and shaded many, the tower and it's tree were covered in vines that crossed the 'T' shape of the ancient building. But in front of it was a thin woman in black vestments like those the clergy wore, the family knelt but she kissed their brows before they stood and left, her eyes were the brightest white while her hair was the darkest black, her thin delicate features made her look not like a human, but a perfect statue of what humans could be.

Her voice was silken as she directed "Come, my father awaits"

Robin lowered his gaze "Lady Death"

Without a word she continued to lead them through the remains of this relic before they came to a chamber hidden beyond the tower and deep into the heart of the tree, Death closed the door and they examined the room, the dark wood felt and looked more like stone than living flesh and the only source of light was a chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. The only other object in the room was a raised dais in the middle.

With a single desiccated corpse laying before them.


End file.
